Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

How to identify

Field marks

1. Adult has an extremely long, forked tail
2. Adult has a pale gray head and upperparts
3. Adult has salmon-pink flanks and undertail-coverts
4. Adult has dark gray wings

Male, female and young

Female usually smaller than male, with a shorter tail; juvenile also has a short tail and lacks pink patches on the belly.

Voice

Gives “bik”, “kew” or repeated “ka-lup” notes when perched or displaying.

Where and when it's recorded

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher has been recorded at 397 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 16 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Hornsby BendUnited States10,759 records
2. Mitchell Lake Audubon CenterUnited States6,630 records
3. Village Creek Drying Beds (PPW-W 083) – ACCESS CLOSED July 2025United States4,576 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United StatesMexicoCosta RicaHondurasBelizeEl SalvadorNicaraguaCanada

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The scissor-tailed flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus), known as swallow-tailed flycatcher or scissorstail, is a long-tailed insectivorous bird of the genus Tyrannus, whose members are collectively referred to as kingbirds. It is found in North and Central America, and is Oklahoma's State Bird.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions